“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I murmur, staring up at Emery. He laughs lightly and gently touches my cheek.

“I’m only going to the police station with your parents. I can’t get any safer than that.” He gives a small smile and I stare down at my feet.

“I just don’t like being away from you,” I whisper, as he holds my hand. He swings it in the space between us.

“It will be fine,” he tells me, placing his lips softly on my forehead. My mother calls from the front door and Emery pulls back. “It’s time to go.” He starts putting on his shoes but I don’t let go of his hand. “Your mother said she would call when we’re on our way home, so no need to worry!” He kisses my lips for a moment and pulls away too soon. Grinning, he brushes his thumb across my cheek. “I love you, River Snow.”

My cheeks blush and I give a shy smile. “I love you too, Emery Hastings.”

Three Hours Later:

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Mary stares at me with her mouth hanging open and wide eyes. She smacks my arm as hard as she can, which frankly, isn’t that hard. “I can’t believe you two are a couple now!”

I roll my eyes as we sit on the living room couch, watching a movie. I knew she would freak out so I tried to bring it up as casually as I could. Since my parent’s and Emery left a few hours ago to go to the police station, Mary came over to keep me company while I’m home alone. Its growing dark and I still haven’t received a phone call to know that they’re on their way home.

“When did this happen?” I mumble the answer to Mary as quietly as possible and she gives me a scary look. “When, River!?”

“A few weeks ago,” I mutter and Mary smacks me across the top of my head.

“A few weeks!” Mary screams, jumping to her feet.

“Ow,” I mumble, rubbing my head.

“Why didn’t you call me immediately?” I shrug as Mary puts her hands on her hips. Her narrowed eyes glare down at me, trying to be intimidating.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” I mumble, however I was extremely overwhelmed when it happened. “Besides,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and pulling her back onto the couch. “I haven’t exactly gotten to see you lately.”

I give her a look and her cheeks turn pink. “It’s not my fault, I failed a test and my dad keeps making me study.”

“Well,” I laugh lightly, staring at the TV but not really seeing what’s playing. “You can’t get mad at me.” A few minutes go by without talking until Mary jumps to her feet excitedly. “Rimery!”

I scrunch my face in confusion. “What?”

“Rimery!” She shouts again, grinning widely. “It’s your couple name!”

I roll my eyes and cover my face with my palm. “You can’t be serious.”

Mary puts her hands on her hips and glares at me. “Don’t question me, River.”

I remove my hand and settle back into the couch. Mary sits beside me as she mumbles other possibilities of Emery and my names mashed together to create one. Eventually, she starts to watch the movie as we drift into silence.

Normally, I’m completely fine with being home alone, even at night. However a strange feeling creeps up my spine and settles in the pit of my stomach. I grow terrified, but not for me. No, I’m completely worried for Emery. I know he’s with my parents and the police, though it doesn’t stop me from getting worked up. I already almost lost Emery more than once. I can’t lose him again.

My eyes drift towards the window as darkness settles outside. Suddenly, I see it. A figure, completely black in the night runs through my window view and I gasp. By the time I blink again, the figure is gone.

“River?” Mary’s voice is full of concern as she rests her porcelain hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

My body starts to shake and Mary jumps off the couch. Crouching in front of me, she looks up at me with worried eyes.

“I-I think I saw something,” I whisper, not able to tear my eyes away from the window. “Outside.”

Mary slowly rises to her feet as she follows my gaze. She stands in front of the window, staring out into the night. By the time she comes back to me, she looks nervous.

“I don’t see anything,” she mumbles, holding my hand tightly in attempt to comfort me. “Are you sure you saw something?”

“Of course I did,” I snap, and Mary’s eyes grow wide. She starts to softly stroke my hair to calm me down; however I’m much too scared now. “We need to shut all the blinds,” I mutter, rising to my feet. “And lock all the doors.”

Mary grabs my shoulder and pulls me back to her when I try to walk away. “River,” she murmurs, meeting my gaze. “You’ve been worked up ever since we stopped talking. It was probably just your imagination.”

I shake my head no and pull out of her grasp. I hear my heart beating in my ears as I throw curtains closed and run around the house. Mary follows in suit, not wanting to upset me more. By the time we’re done, I’m heading through the house flicking on every light possible in attempt to comfort me. Plus, anyone outside will think that everyone is home because so many lights are on.

“What’s wrong?” Mary asks gently, staring at me with eyes full of concern. We’re back on the couch, no longer even looking at the TV. Before, I was scared for Emery’s sake. However now I’m scared for mine.

“I saw someone outside, Mary,” I say as serious as possible. “I know I did.”

Mary sighs and starts finger combing her hair, something she always does when she’s upset. “Do you want to call your parents?”

I close my eyes tightly and clench my teeth together. Of course that’s what I want to do. However, because my dad doesn’t want to become modernized, he hasn’t invested in a cell phone. When he gets home, I’m giving him a serious lecture.

“I have no way of contacting them,” I mutter, opening my eyes.

“What do you want to do then?” I shake my head, not knowing what I could do. “Well,” she sighs, taking my hand in hers. “Your parents should be calling soon. It’s getting late, plus it takes nearly an hour to get there.”

The movie we haven’t been watching is over and the credits are almost done rolling. I flick off the TV and try to sink into the couch, thinking of things to calm me down. I can’t stop shaking like I’m cold or breathe calmly anymore. I’m freaking out and the only person who can make me feel better is Emery.

The phone rings. In the eerie silence, it echoes through the house. Sending chills up my spine, Mary gently pushes me.

“See? I told you your parents would call.”

My legs feel like they’re going to collapse underneath me as I rise to my feet. Even though I know it’s my parent’s, I’m scared to go answer the phone. I listen to my footsteps as I head towards the kitchen alone. The phone will ring, making me more scared. Then, it will stop, the silence making me feel like I’m in a horror movie. It rings again as my fingers clasp over the cool phone.

“Hello?”

All I hear at first is breathing.

“How would you like to die?”

My legs finally give out and I crumple onto the floor, leaning against the wall. The phone still pressed to my ear, I start to hear laughter.

“Scared you, didn’t I?”

I recognize the voice however I don’t let my brain place whose it is. If I do, I will scream.

“Here’s the deal,” he says sternly, all the laughter completely gone from his voice. “Come out to the barn alone.”

My eyes narrow as I try to stop the phone from shaking in my hand. “And if I don’t?” My voice is unsteady and obvious full of fear; however I can’t sound brave at a time like this.

“I’ll shoot your precious horses.”

The phone drops from my hand and makes a small noise on the cold, tile floor. My brain foggy from distress, I try to think to where the horses are right now. My father said something about a potential storm earlier. Racking my brain, my mouth falls open. He said he put them in the barn.

“I’ll call the police,” I snap into the phone, once I’ve picked it back up. “Get the hell off my farm!”

The man on the other end only laughs. “If you call the police, you’ll have five dead horses to clean up tomorrow.” I start to feel lightheaded as the colour falls from my face. I plan out every second in my head. After I get off the phone, I’ll call the police. Then I’ll go outside in order to protect my horses. When the police arrive, everything will be okay.

“Okay,” I whisper, rising to my feet.

“One last thing,” he laughs darkly, as I get ready to hang up the phone. “Don’t hang up the phone or I’ll know you’ve called the police.”

The phone falls from my hand for the second time and crashes onto the floor. The green light that says it’s in use still flickers so I don’t pick it up. As terror floods through me, a name creeps its way into my mind and settles there, not wanting to leave. It’s the name of who’s on the other end, waiting for me for whatever sick thing he’s planned inside the barn.

Vince.